Celebrate
A celebration
Welcome to our celebration of the launch of our new product unique to South African Woolworths stores - crispy, succulent, home-style Southern Fried Chicken Portions. Available in Woolworths fridges since April 2023, this is an inspiring story of collaboration between the remarkable Woolworths and Finlar product development teams.
A new discovery
Finlar constantly explores fresh ideas and trends to keep abreast of the latest global technology, recipes, and products for our clients. Two years ago we identified an exciting new product at M&S stores in the UK; a whole Southern Fried Chicken. The Woolworths management team were blown away by the moreish, scrumptious flavour of the unique coating.
A celebration
Let’s celebrate the launch of our new product unique to South African Woolworths stores - crispy, succulent, home-style Southern Fried Chicken Portions.
A new discovery
Finlar constantly explores new ideas and trends to keep abreast of the latest global technology, recipes and products for our clients. Two years ago, we identified an exciting new product at M&S stores in the UK; a whole Southern Fried Chicken. The Woolworths management team were blown away by the moreish, scrumptious flavour of the unique coating.
From London to Cape Town
And so began our 24-month journey of scientific trial and discovery to bring this quality product to Woolworths customers back home in South Africa.
Localizing the ingredients and process, we benchmarked the product against the M&S version and similar competing products to create a decadent flavour and texture that surpassed our expectations. The flavour profile of this product is all about the combination and balance of specific home-grown herbs and spices to achieve the perfect southern fried taste and aroma – an indulgent experience. This coating has become the new benchmark for southern fried flavour in our coating range as Woolworths plans to expand to other Southern Fried products.
From the farm to the dinner table
The seven-stage process of Southern Fried Chicken Portions starts right from the farm where the fresh chicken is tumbled in a special savoury brine to create a base for the unique flavour. From there, the chicken is coated in a light home-style batter using specialized equipment for an even coating and home-made feel. We flash fry the chicken to seal the coating, and then the magic happens in the Cookstar,our cutting-edge, world-class oven. The chicken is cooked in several stages using a combination of steam and convection to create the chicken’s incredible moistness. Our Cookstar achieves a succulent and flavourful chicken on the inside with a crispy outside coating. It is then packaged and flash frozen for transport to Woolworths fridges. The result is flavourful, tender chicken drums and thighs with a southern fried taste ready to eat after 20 min in an oven, or even less in an air-fryer.
